19 February 2018 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) strongly objects to an article published in Sowetan titled ‘KPMG puts SAFA poll under a cloud.’

In our interview with Sowetan, we meticulously outlined the processes involved in this election cycle, but little if any of our input was important to the writer and his publication.

We consider such type of journalism as classical yellow journalism – which is the type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate to well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines designed to sell newspapers.

It is irresponsible and malicious to suggest the SAFA Electoral Congress is ‘under any cloud’ as the 24 March 2018 congress is very much on course, without any hiccup as evidenced by processes in the Regions.

We told the writer the procedures of the upcoming 24 March 2018 elections but for reasons better known to him, he decided to ignore facts to pursue an agenda designed to cast a negative light on the Association.

According to the SAFA Statutes, the Auditor’s job is to receive nominations from members. After receiving the nominations, they must submit the list to the CEO of the Association within 7 days after the closing date.

Thereafter, the Electoral Committee, as defined by the SAFA Electoral Code, takes over. Incidentally, the SAFA Electoral Code, along with the SAFA Statutes, has been accessible on the SAFA website for many years. These documents will show that the auditors are never involved in running the elections.

If there are issues regarding eligibility or any outstanding matter, it is the duty of the Electoral Committee, the respected Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), to deal with, not the auditors.

In short, the duty of the auditors is to receive nominations and it has always been the norm that elections are conducted and run by the Electoral Committee.

Insinuations that the 24 March electoral congress might be thrown into turmoil because KPMG are no longer the auditors of the Association are disingenuous because the whole world, except for the writer, is aware of this process.

Plans for the elective congress are very much on course and everything is being handled according to SAFA’s rules and regulations.

We therefore object strenuously to the particular negative slant taken by Sowetan in a process that has otherwise been beyond reproach.